


SPN 300 'Catharsis'

by JustThe1ce



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-11-07 03:39:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17952920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustThe1ce/pseuds/JustThe1ce
Summary: A logic-driven re-write of episode 300 that gets the apologies and closure we all wanted, but in a way that makes actual sense while moving the main arc forward, includes the main characters, and fixes Mary.





	SPN 300 'Catharsis'

**Author's Note:**

> Please don't read this if you thoroughly enjoyed the actual 300th, I don't want to spoil it for anyone. 
> 
> But, if you experienced crushing disappointment at yet again another depth-less, logic-less mess where the characters don't even sound like themselves and a third of the most important milestone episode of the series is wasted on even more unnecessary new teenagers that do exactly nothing to move the story forward, then please read on!
> 
> I've never written anything like this before and wasn't really sure how best to format it, so I ended up with a sort of modified play. I hope it reads well and allows you to really see the ep taking place.

SPN 300 – “CATHARSIS”

-NOW- FADE IN

THE MAP ROOM

Sam, Dean and Cas come home to the bunker after Dean’s suicide mission. They dejectedly walk through the door and down the stairs to sit around the map table.

SAM: Dean, can you show me the schematics for the Ma'lak Box? Maybe we can find a way to trap Michael without your vessel.

Dean digs the lore book out of his duffel and hands it to Sam.

DEAN: There’s no use! I told you what Billie showed me. The box works _because_ I’m in it. 

CUT TO JACK WALKING DOWN THE HALL. 

He hears them talking and lights up. He rushes towards the map room, but stops when he hears Dean say:

DEAN: She showed me! The only way out of this for the world is if I spend eternity locked up with Michael.

CAS: Dean, you agreed to let us find a way to save you. I will not let you throw your life away!

Sam and Cas continue to argue with Dean. Jack becomes more and more distraught. He turns and goes back to his room.

JACK: I have to help Dean. He’s saved me so many times! I have to save _him_. 

He tries to activate his powers. He glows for a second then it flickers out. He falls to his knees.

JACK: I can’t! 

Thoroughly overwhelmed, he clutches his head and cries out.

JACK: I need help! Please someone help me find a way! Help me save Dean! Please!

Suddenly he starts to glow with his magic. The room fills with gold light and the bunker shakes.

CUT TO THE MAP ROOM.

A golden rift appears and a man falls out backwards. The boys and Cas grab for their weapons and prepare to fight. The rift fades, but doesn’t disappear and the shaking stops.

John Winchester jumps up with his weapons raised, shocked and terrified.

DEAN: Dad?

SAM: Is that you?

JOHN: Boys?

The boys & John recognize each other, but they aren’t really sure. 

JOHN: How are you alive?

DEAN: What? How are you alive? 

JOHN: This can’t be! You’re so old! 

SAM: What are you talking about? _You’re_ so old! Where did you come from? Heaven?

CAS: No, you don’t age in Heaven. Purgatory?

Cas reaches towards John and tries to put his hand on his head. John ducks out of the way.

JOHN: Who the hell are you?

DEAN: Dad, this is Cas. Well, Castiel. He’s basically our brother. 

SAM: And also… he’s an angel. Angels are real, Dad!

JOHN: Of course angels are real. What do you think we’ve been fighting all these years!?

The boys exchange looks of confusion.

DEAN: Dad, you’ve been dead for almost 13 years.

JOHN: No I haven’t. _You_ have.

Cas touches John’s head and a blue glow appears beneath his hand. 

CAS: He’s from an alternate universe. Another apocalypse world.

SAM: There’s another?

CAS: It’s highly likely that there are multitudes of alternate universes. With each major decision, time can split off and form a separate, but parallel dimension where the opposite choice or action occurred. 

DEAN: Ok… So, you’re saying that this is our Dad and at the same time not our Dad. 

CAS: Possibly. Probably. It’s all very complicated.

Dean rolls his eyes.

SAM: So, the apocalypse world we know is where Mom & Dad didn’t get married and we were never born. What made the difference in the universe that he’s from?

DEAN: Dad, you said I’ve been dead for 13 years. What happened?

John begins his explanation stoically, but becomes more emotional as he goes on.

JOHN: We were in a car accident. We had just escaped from Yellow-Eyes.

SAM: We remember. 

JOHN: Dean was in a coma and the doctors said he wasn’t going to make it. I summoned Azazel to make a deal to save him.

DEAN: We know.

JOHN: But, he double-crossed me! He stole the Colt and disappeared. Dean. Dean, I’m sorry I failed you! It was my job to keep you safe and I failed. I failed you both. I’m so sorry!

John breaks down and Dean hugs him.

DEAN: It’s ok, Dad.

JOHN: It’s not ok! I’m your father. I was supposed to give you a chance at a better life.

DEAN: That’s it though. ‘A chance’. That’s all anyone gets. Me and Sam, we got the chance to really make a difference. To save the world! Who would I have been if not this? Nah, I’m good with who we are. 

SAM: I am, too. You know, at the time it seemed like we never got along. Because we were in it and couldn’t see it how it really was. I don’t even remember the fights anymore or what crap I said to make you angry. I just remember us. As a family. 

John hugs Sam.

CAS: But, how did the apocalypse happen in your world?

John sighs heavily.

JOHN: After Azazel got the Colt, things spiraled out of control. He opened a gate to Hell and let out an army of demons.

SAM: Yeah, we had that, too.

JOHN: Sam and I joined with Bobby Singer and a few other hunters. Bobby didn’t make it.

The boys exchange grief stricken looks.

JOHN: I found out later that Azazel stole Bobby’s soul from his rightful place Heaven and took it to Hell.

CAS: The Righteous Man.

John nods.

JOHN: He broke the first seal on Lucifer’s cage. Azazel and Lilith worked together to break the seals. We never even had a chance to slow them down, much less stop them. Two weeks. That’s all it took. Two weeks and Lucifer was free.

The boys and Cas are astonished and horrified.

JOHN: Sam.

John shakes his head.

JOHN: Sam was tricked into saying ‘yes’ to Lucifer. It was my fault. And I’ll never forgive myself.

John is overwhelmed by emotion and Sam puts his arm around his shoulders.

CAS: What about Michael? 

JOHN: Michael? Well…

John becomes uncomfortable and embarrassed.

DEAN: What is it, Dad?

JOHN: Well, I never told you. But, you have a brother. A half-brother. Adam.

SAM: We know.

JOHN: Oh. 

Awkward pause.

JOHN: Michael took him for his vessel. 

DEAN: Yeah, that happened here, too.

John is again overwhelmed by emotion.

JOHN: I couldn’t protect him either! I tried to keep him hidden. Keep him out of the life. But, they found him.

SAM: About that. Why did you keep him secret? Why didn’t you teach him what was out there? Why didn’t you turn him into a soldier like you did us?

JOHN: I’m sorry, Sammy. I could see what I was doing to you. How I was taking away your childhood. But, it was too late for us. We were in too deep. I wanted to try to keep that from happening to Adam and his mother. I should never have gotten involved with her. 

The boys exchange looks that recall their past relationships and how they left to keep them safe.

JOHN: What happened to Adam here? Is he alive, too?

The boys and Cas exchange guilty looks.

DEAN: Michael didn’t let him go.

John’s face falls.

CAS: John, if all of this happened so long ago, what’s your world like now?

JOHN: It’s Hell on Earth. Literally. Lucifer and Michael destroyed everything. The power that used to contain the demons is gone. They’re free to walk the earth. The angels left us to fight them on our own. With Lucifer and Michael dead, they don’t have the energy to care about humans anymore.

DEAN: Wait. Lucifer and Michael are dead? How!?

John chuckles humorlessly.

JOHN: The antichrist. 

SAM: Jesse?

JOHN: You know him!?

DEAN: Not exactly.

Cas becomes excited.

CAS: How did the antichrist end Armageddon?

JOHN: I don’t know exactly how, but he joined with a Nephilim, an angel-human hybrid—

SAM, DEAN & CAS: We know.

JOHN: Anyway, the antichrist and this Nephilim worked together to take them down. But, it took all of their power. They became human. They couldn’t save Sam & Adam. 

John becomes overwhelmed by emotion.

JOHN: _I_ couldn’t save them. I buried all my boys. 

John breaks down and the boys hug him. Cas leaves them to their reconciliation, goes to find Jack to tell him about the antichrist/Nephilim solution.

DEAN: You know Dad, we kind of know what it means to be a parent now, too.

JOHN: Are you saying I’m a grandfather?

SAM: Not exactly.

DEAN: I did spawn a monster Amazonian warrior once. Sam killed her.

SAM: Really? We’ve gotten past this! She was trying to kill you!

DEAN: We had that shape shifter baby for a few days, too.

John looks incredulous. 

Dean clears his throat and speaks soberly.

DEAN: But, there was…someone. I was with her for just over a year. She had a son. Ben. After a while, he was my son, too. I had to leave to keep them safe.

JOHN: I’m sorry, son.

John squeezes Dean’s shoulder comfortingly.

SAM: And now… we have Jack.

JOHN: We?

SAM: Me, Dean and Cas.

DEAN: Jack is a Nephilim. But he’s more than that really. 

SAM: He’s Lucifer’s child.

JOHN: What!?

DEAN: Things are… complicated. But, he’s family.

CUT TO JACK’S ROOM

Cas finds Jack in his room unconscious on the floor, twitching and glowing gold, and tries to rouse him.

Cas yells down the hallway.

CAS: Sam! Dean! It’s Jack. Something’s wrong!

The boys & John run towards him. Mary walks in the door. The boys realize they didn’t explain her yet to John. John & Mary stare at each other, frozen in disbelief.

CAS (off camera): Sam! Dean! Hurry!

The boys exit, leaving John & Mary together. Mary rushes down the stairs to stand in front of John near the now dull rift. Stunned, they slowly reach for each other, afraid to touch and find out it’s an illusion. When their hands touch, John crumples to the ground & Mary follows.

JOHN: Mary! My God, Mary! Is it really you?

MARY: John, what are you doing here? Where did you come from?

JOHN: I’m not sure. And right now I don’t care!

They kiss. Mary pulls away.

MARY: Everything was my fault. Yellow-eyes. Sam. All of it.

JOHN: What? How could it have been?

MARY: I made a deal with Azazel. 

JOHN: What?

MARY: Before we were married. I had to!

JOHN: What are you talking about?

MARY: My Dad was hunting Yellow-Eyes and was possessed by him. He killed you all! I was left alone! I made him bring you back.

JOHN: What are you saying? Samuel was a hunter? Were you a hunter?

MARY: I just wanted to be normal! I tried to put it all behind us. To build a real life with you! I never wanted this. 

JOHN: None of us wanted this. But, it’s what happened.

MARY: I should have trusted you with the truth.

John strokes her hair.

JOHN: Well, you can tell it to me now.

Mary looks down and notices them kneeling on the floor in the map room.

MARY: There’s a lot to tell. Let’s get off the floor and go to my room. We can talk there.

Mary stands up, takes his hand and pulls him to his feet.

MARY: Where did the boys rush off to earlier?

JOHN: Oh, something was wrong with their boy Jack, I think.

Mary gasps.

MARY: Oh no! Is his soul fading again?

She hurriedly makes her way down the hall to Jack’s room without letting go of John’s hand.

Cas kneels by the bed with his hand on Jack’s forehead. Sam and Dean stand nearby. Jack appears to have stabilized, but is still unconscious and glowing. 

CAS: He seems to be using his soul magic, but it’s stuck somehow. I think he may be responsible for the rift.

SAM: He must be holding it open. Could he have purposely brought Dad here?

They all turn and look at John standing in the doorway, still holding hands with Mary.

JOHN: I don’t know. One minute I was walking out to my truck. The next I was falling through the rift.

DEAN: What happens when the magic stops?

The boys and Cas discuss options for waking Jack. John leans close to Mary and whispers:

JOHN: I don’t know how much longer I’ll be here.

MARY: Come on.

She leads him down the hall to her room. Dean sees them leave and smiles wistfully. 

CUT TO MARY’S ROOM

MARY: There’s so much to say. I— I don’t even know where to start!

JOHN: It doesn’t matter.

He tucks her hair behind her ears and holds her face gently.

JOHN: Our lives were not normal. It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t my fault. We did the best we could. We loved each other. Seeing you and the boys again… getting to touch your beautiful face… 

They kiss passionately.

CUT TO JACK’S ROOM

DEAN: But, the antichrist! Man. How are we going to find him when he doesn’t want to be found?

SAM: Well, we’re going to have make him want to.

DEAN: With what? A two-for-one at the Bunny Hole? Come on, Sam! He can bend reality. What are we going to offer him that he can’t make happen on his own?

CAS: Solidarity.

DEAN: What!?

CAS: Jesse is the child of a demon and a human. Jack is the child of the devil and a human. Neither belongs entirely to either side. Maybe Jesse can find in Jack someone who understands what that’s like. 

SAM: First we have to get Jack back. Wait. Where are Mom and Dad?

DEAN: Leave them be.

CUT TO MARY’S ROOM

John & Mary are in bed, telling stories about Sam & Dean.

JOHN: Dean. Dean was great. I was half out of my head with grief. But, Dean. He took care of Sammy better than I could. Hell, he took care of me when I thought I was taking care of him!

Mary laughs softly.

MARY: Yeah, he’s pretty good at that.

JOHN: When Sam was sick, Dean would make him tomato rice soup like you used to make him. As soon as Sam started walking, Dean had him up dancing around to your Beatles albums.

MARY: Well, he’s definitely got your taste in music now. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard Zeppelin IV since I got back, but I could probably sing it in my sleep!

John laughs heartily.

JOHN: Oh and Sam. He’s always been so quick! You know Dean taught him to read when he was three?

Mary shakes her head.

JOHN: He was always too quick for me. Too quick to get anything past. Always calling me on my bullshit.

John shakes his head, sadly.

JOHN: He was too quick. I kept trying to slow him down. I just ended up holding him back. He was right to leave.

MARY: You did the best you could.

JOHN: I always kept an eye on him when he was gone to school. Made sure he was safe. It was the best place for him. I knew that. I just couldn’t admit it to him.

MARY: Apologizing was never your biggest strength.

JOHN: No. No it wasn’t.

MARY: We should probably get dressed before the boys come looking for us. That’s not a conversation I want to have! 

They reluctantly climb out of bed and quickly get dressed. John starts to glow. They are both scared and confused.

CUT TO JACK’S ROOM

Jack’s glow is fading. The boys and Cas are excited and hopeful.

MARY (off-camera): Boys! Cas!

They run to her room in time to see John lighting up.

SAM: No! He’s going back!

John’s glow is getting brighter by the second.

JOHN: I’m so proud of you boys. The men you’ve become.

He turns to Mary.

JOHN: I love you.

He fades out in a flash of golden light. Mary picks up his discarded jacket and cradles it to her chest.

MARY: I love you.

THE MAP ROOM

The rift is gone. Jack is awake, but weak. Cas fills him with healing energies while Dean tries to get him to eat tomato rice soup. Sam is searching the internet for traces of the antichrist. Mary, wearing John’s jacket, watches them with a new realization. She sees herself in them now. She sees her John in them. Instead of being overwhelmed by their love and need for her, she realizes has room for them and lets it wash over and through her to heal her wounds.

 

THE END


End file.
